Open Doors Pt IV: Final Battle
by FaithfulELF
Summary: The So Weird gang ties up their journey into the paranormal with one last stand against the forces of evil which are invading the universe. Fi/Clu. Jack/Annie


AN: Sorry this has taken so long. finals and such have been driving me up a wall! anyhoo, here's the past part of Open Doors! Oh, and any suggestions are welcome!

CHAPTER ONE

DISCLAIMER: I do not own So Weird.

SUMMARY: The So Weird gang tie up their journey into the paranormal with one last stand against the forces of evil which are invading the universe.

Fi's INTRODUCTION: Battles of good versus evil can be found everywhere - from ancient artwork, old stories in religious testaments, and even movies of contemporary times. Angels fight devils, forces of light fight forces of dark, all that stuff. But what about the shades of gray? And what about the thousands of people unknowing of their fate? When it comes time to fight those battles, who are going to be the chosen few that participate? And what would the world be like if one side was to win?

CHAPTER ONE

PAST

To put it simply, Molly was in denial. It wasn't as if it were a rare occurrence within the Phillips household. In fact, Molly was often in denial about anything that went on that concerned the world outside the one she knew. It wasn't that she was ignorant of such things. Oh no – she was far from ignorant. She knew exactly what was going on, she just chose the safe path – to ignore it.

For a long time this frame of mind had worked. Something strange would happen? Just ignore it. Deny that it ever happened. It had been the easiest thing to do at the time. Back when her daughter had first begun her investigating. It wasn't as if she had been left with any other options back then. Truth be told, she'd been so shocked that it was all really happening again. She didn't want it to happen again. She didn't want Fi to …

She never wanted to lose her daughter the way she'd lost her husband. She'd tried the best she could to dissuade Fi from following through with her quest. In some aspects she'd been glad when her daughter had decided to leave for Seattle. She wasn't stupid – she knew something had happened. Something that Fi wanted to keep from her family, and as selfish as it may seem, Molly was grateful. She was glad that Fi wanted to get away from the activity that haunted her. She was glad Fi was giving up her old life to take on a new one. She missed her daughter with a great passion … but she'd rather know she was safe and out of trouble than to know she was risking her life the same way her father had.

She'd waved off the whole incident in Fi's bedroom the night before. She'd looked something paranormal in the face, and then she'd looked the other way. She left the bedroom and continued to act as if nothing had happened. She kept a calm façade up until Fi yelled at her, trying to make her see what was really happening.

She'd sent her daughter to her room. She'd sent Clu home. She'd sent Annie and Jack away, and then she had sent herself to her own bed where she'd laid awake most of the night reliving every moment of her life and asking herself just what it was she'd done wrong? Why was it that she couldn't keep the one's she loved safe?

She woke up, made breakfast, took a shower, ran through the daily routine. No one mentioned the events from the night before, though it was in everyone's thoughts. Fi had kept her distance, instead locking herself away in her room and searching the web for something Molly most likely didn't want to know about. Jack and Annie had settled down in the living room where they sat in hushed tones. Molly had a feeling she didn't want to know what they were talking about, either.

She thought about calling Irene and Ned. She wanted to do something completely and utterly normal. She wanted to talk with reasonable adults who didn't believe in things like the boogeyman. She wanted to face rational and convince herself that everything her daughter had been telling her was just a distant nightmare.

She wanted to keep on living in denial.

The egg of doubt began to crack, and Molly slowly fell into the kitchen chair, clutching her throat as she tried to keep from having a panic attack.

_Rick_…

It was happening all over again, and with a hateful realization, Molly knew there would be no denying the truth. There would be no more passing her daughter's words off as child-like imaginings. Denial had lost her the husband she loved, despite their many arguments. She could not live with that anymore.

Molly's eyes flickered to the clock as she tried to calm her racing heart. The cold devastation that coursed through her took grip of her mind. She had to do something to help. Or she'd lose someone else she'd cared about.

Her mind ran through the day her husband had died.

She glanced at the old picture set by the window. The one of her and Rick, the one she'd hadn't really looked at in years. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew their relationship had been rocky. Things had changed when Fi had been born. Rick's mild interest in the supernatural – an interest that had been fleeting to say the last – had been magnified ten fold as he attempted to find something. He had never told her what had started this obsession, and that may have been the start of their downfall.

The arguments would escalade to ridiculous heights. They'd say horrible things to each other that they'd later regret, once they'd let their anger go. It twisted them. Their perfect family, their marriage … it was all falling apart, and Molly blamed a lot of it on Rick and him being unable to just let those things go. But a big part of her – the one she always tried to hide – blamed herself. She blamed herself for never being supportive of what he was trying to do. Maybe if she had been, he wouldn't have pulled away from her as much as he did.

Sometimes Molly wondered if Rick has never been in the accident, would they have eventually divorced. It seemed to be the path that they were on. Although, no one could ever say that she hadn't tried. In the beginning she had tried to be supportive of what Rick did. She had tried to understand why he felt this urgent need to meddle as he had. But some those things scared her so bad that she just couldn't … she wondered how he was so willing to risk his family to get those answers he so desperately craved.

It was no wonder she'd slipped back into old habits she'd thought she'd given up for good.

That isn't to say that she once more became an alcoholic, or anything of that sort. But sometimes, late at night when Rick was out chasing his monsters and the two had been caught up in yet another heated argument… well, sometimes she would drink. Just a little bit, and only to chase away the loneliness that had settled so deeply into her soul.

It was almost funny – the way Rick's accident had made her focus more on her family than her own loss. She needed to get her children through that trying time more than she needed to hold herself together. She'd done so well for so long that she had almost convinced herself that life was perfect.

Molly let her head fall into her hands as she groaned. It was time to come clean so that she could see that her baby was kept safe. It was time to tell Fi everything that she knew.

SO WEIRD

Jack shifted uncertainly, glancing over his shoulder to the kitchen where his mother had disappeared to almost fifteen minutes ago. Annie followed his gaze, frowning slightly as she caught on to whatever it was he was thinking.

He was worried. Not just about his sister, but his mother, as well. No one could blame him. The way Molly had so blatantly denied everything that had happened the night before had been unsettling for everyone involved. Even Clu seemed out of sorts as he had left. The only good that had come of the whole situation was that Jack was talking to Annie, and she was talking to him. Although neither would breach the topic of what had caused the whole problem to begin with. Just like no one was mentioning Annie's voyage out of their lives tomorrow, or the possession of Fi the night before.

Jack finally turned back, shaking his head with a reluctant sigh. "Something has to be done."

Annie gave him a frustrated look, but she didn't bother to respond. Instead she stood, brushing the back of her shorts off and then looking around the room forlornly. "We should go outside," She finally said. "Get some fresh air."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her, but he quickly followed suit. He stood with a quick stretch and then started for the door. He paused only a moment to glance in the kitchen only to find his mother with her head in her hands and looking ready to either scream or cry. He took a step towards her, only to have Annie grab his elbow and pull him back. He turned, prepared to give her a piece of his mind when he noticed the way she was looking back at his mother.

"She needs some time alone," She said quietly. Jack looked from his mother to Annie with a frown. He looked prepared to disagree, so Annie added, "I think she's finally accepting what's been going on. Remember how hard it was for you? How hard it still _is_?"

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Jack could only nod. He followed her out the door, and neither bothered to speak until they were a good distance away from the house.

"Do you know what had Clu so upset yesterday?" Annie asked, swooping down and picking up a rock. She turned it over in her hands, looking for some sort of distraction.

"Probably the fact that one of his best friends was possessed," Jack said, lacking in humor. Annie rolled her eyes in response.

"I meant why he seemed so mad at Fi. What happened wasn't her fault at all," Annie said.

Jack scoffed. "I'm sure you'd like to think you know my sister real well since you're a member of the 'Fi's weird club', but I can tell you that anything weird that happens, it's usually because _she's_ started it."

"You can't blame her for getting possessed!" Annie snapped, suddenly really annoyed.

Wanting to regain some control out of the debate that was most likely about to spiral out of control, Jack took the much needed tactic of switching topics. "I think Clu was talking to Fi for a few minutes before he left. She probably said something that got him mad."

Annie frowned at this. "I can't see Clu getting mad about anything," She said quietly. "He's just … not that type of guy."

Jack couldn't help the way he felt a sudden twinge of jealous at the way she was talking about his best friend. "Fi can find her way under anyone's skin," he finally said, trying to stay focused.

Annie stopped at the edge of the drive-way, and Jack did the same. The two stared silently out into the empty road for several moments.

Jack had resigned himself to his own sort of denial in regards to everything that had gone on in the past few weeks. Granted, he'd slowly been telling himself that everything that had happened was real, but some part of him was always trying to come up with a completely logical explanation. After last night, though…

Not just that his sister had been possessed, but remembering so vividly the way he himself had been controlled by the little ball of light. _Will o wisp_, he mentally corrected his train of thought. It felt strange, thinking over the way that creature had searched through his memories, not caring in the last bit that many of those memories were private.

These weren't the only things that troubled him about the whole night before. It was the ball of light itself that had him remembering the possessed men of Morgan Le Faye's court. He'd spoken about what they'd seen in that place only with Clu, and even then it had been difficult to grasp.

And his memories of that life were slowly returning. He remembered how Jacob had fought Morgan Le Faye until some of the knights arrived and helped him capture the woman. The way they had managed to quickly dwindle her army now that all her paranormal forces had vanished. He remembered Arthur learning of Sir Henry's betrayal and the loyalty Jacob had for the king.

He remembered up to when Jacob had been given a promotion as field marshal in charge of logistics and such. Jack had a feeling that there was more to Jacob's story than just that, but he hadn't gotten any further in his memories. Briefly he wondered if he'd remember the whole story in time, but then he chased these thoughts away in favor of not wanting to think about what was undoubtedly coming.

Unconsciously he laced his fingers with Annie's and peered around thoughtfully. As Anne's presence gave Jacob strength, so did Annie's for Jack. He didn't dwell on it too much. Rather he was in favor of enjoying things as they were for once.

"Do you want to go catch a movie?" He asked, startling Annie out of her own thoughts. She looked at him with surprise, and then grinned.

"Sure!"

SO WEIRD

She'd remembered exactly what had happened in the Plane of Dreams the moment Bricriu had jumped inside her body and she was lost on the darkness of the back of her mind. It was a strange feeling, being left alone with just your thoughts. You couldn't really see the things that were going on outside your body, and there wasn't anyone you could talk to, other than Bricriu. Even then he'd been so caught up on what he could do in human form that her shouts had fallen on deaf ears.

As strange as it had been, Fi had appreciated having the time locked in her own mind because it gave her the chance to really look at the things she'd been doing, and where she planned to go from there. It also helped her to remember things she'd thought were long lost.

Like she could remember her father as he'd been when he was alive. All her earliest memories of him kept her company in the early hours of her possession. It wasn't until she'd stumbled upon what it was that Bricriu had been trying to do that Fi decided to fight back.

He was going to rip away her destiny – whatever it was. She couldn't say she really understood how the spell from the old book would have worked, but she did know that Bricriu needed to say the spell from her lips to make it work. She did know that the spell would permanently take away everything she had worked for before and was willing to work for now. She knew that the spell would take away her chance to save her father from where he'd been taken.

And despite the good and bad that this would have done, Fi couldn't help but be calmed with the knowledge that the old wisp was doing this act for her own well being. That was another thing about being possessed – there were no secrets between host and parasite. Whatever Bricriu was thinking, Fi caught on to. She caught on to his concern for her despite the fact that she'd locked him in a disc for a whole year. Either way, she couldn't let him do it, or so she'd fought back. She'd refused to tell him where the book was hidden. It was very difficult to do, but she managed by refusing to think about the old book. And then Annie had come and…

Fi pulled her eyes away from the computer and blinked back the strain that had settled there. She could research changes in destiny till the end of time and she still wouldn't be any closer to doing something useful. Truth be told, the one person with the most answers would have been Bricriu, and he was probably half way around the world by now, after going against orders from the shadow.

They considered her a nuisance, she knew this much. But they were still gearing for a big confrontation. Something about a fight between good and evil that had to be settled, and they didn't want to put it off any longer. They wanted her taken care of now, before she had the potential to be a real threat.

She also knew she was running out of time. Whatever they were planning, they were going to put it in motion soon. Fi could only hope that she found a way to keep her friends and family safe.

She shook her head, standing and peering out the bedroom window. She was slightly surprised to see Jack and Annie waking off down the road, hand in hand. Slowly, though, she smiled. She loved her brother and seeing him with Annie, who Fi knew she could trust to take care of him, made her happy. They were good for each other, even if they hadn't noticed it yet.

Fir's thoughts momentarily flickered to Clu.

_No_, she thought. She could ponder how she felt about one of her oldest friends later, once this was all done and over with. Once they were all safe.

A small beeping noise called Fi's attention back to the computer. Frowning, she approached and allowed the email to expand across the screen.

_Fi_,

_Thought you'd be interested in this particular upgrade for your computer. Try downloading it – this thing is out of our world!_

_-Tad Raxall_

She blinked several times, and then slowly grinned, fingers moving the cursor to start the download.


End file.
